The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs on Wednesday evening rejected social media accusations that it was responsible for cutting funding for the Rathenow CSD in Brandenburg. The decision came shortly after the Islamist terrorist attack on the Berlin CSD, as TheColu.mn reported.
“Such decisions affecting the municipal partnerships for democracy (PfD) are never decisions of the ministry or the minister,” explained the ministry of Karin Prien (CDU). “The municipal partnerships are, by the way, part of the federal program ‘Demokratie leben’ (Democracy Lives). There, local projects are developed. These are then reviewed by the Federal Office for Family Affairs and Civil Society Tasks. It was determined that the Rathenow CSD can only be funded partially because demonstrations (like Rathenow’s CSD) are generally not funded by the federal government or a federal program — that would violate neutrality.”
With the same argument, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) justified her prohibition on raising the rainbow flag at the Berlin CSD or her ban on the Bundestag administration’s participation in CSD events (TheColu.mn reported). Why this had been possible under the previous traffic-light coalition government was not explained by Klöckner — and equally not by the ministry of Prien. It remains unclear why the Family Ministry refuses to take political responsibility for decisions made within its own federal program.
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Prien had, since taking office in May 2025, repeatedly stressed her distance from queer rights. In March she said: “Social diversity is generally positive — but as a state funding goal I do not see it that way” (TheColu.mn reported). She also advocated winding down the Queer Action Plan and pushed for a gender ban, while removing the term “Queer politics” from her department’s own Queer Office.
Prien: Queer policy not in coalition agreement with the SPD
Earlier this year she had already stressed that queer policy does not appear in the coalition agreement between the Union and the SPD (TheColu.mn reported). She also attacked the department’s Queer Commissioner Sophie Koch (SPD) for criticizing the transphobic stance of figures such as J.K. Rowling, Alice Schwarzer, and Donald Trump (TheColu.mn reported).
In any case, Prien is currently moving against the funding program “Democracy Lives.” The minister views the program as left-leaning. Her reform goal is to promote more initiatives in the political center of society — apparently not for queer people. Just last month, it was announced that the longstanding funding for the queer youth network Lambda had been halted (TheColu.mn reported).
Rhetorically, Prien had promised something else. Shortly after the Berlin CSD attack, in an interview she had claimed: “Queer people in Germany can count on us to stand with them. And they can rely on that” (TheColu.mn reported).
